An old American dialect name for the river otter — the confusion arose because both beavers and otters were semi-aquatic mammals that burrowed into river banks, and early settlers often mixed up the terminology. A bank beaver hunted fish rather than built dams, which is the tell. The term faded once people got their mammals straight, but it's a charming piece of frontier natural history.
The trapper came back with three pelts he called bank beavers, though the fur trader knew straight away they were otters.
No comments yet — say something.
(US, dialect) otter.
No comments yet — say something.
Add your own interpretation of "bank beaver".
Regional slang from around the English-speaking world — British, Australian, Irish, Caribbean, Nigerian, Filipino, AAVE, and the hyphenated-English dialects that make the internet sound local.
See all Regional & Other slang on Slangora.